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Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 is a followup to Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker. It was released in Japan on April 28th, 2010, and although already released in the US, Japanese advertisements heavily comment on the fact that the Japanese players will be playing against US opponents. A hint at a US release can be found in the japanese Monsters Joker website where they state that all Wi-Fi will be going down March 31st, the same date that Monsters Joker 2 was released in Japan in 2010. Joker 2's gameplay is virtually identical to the original. However, some improvements based on American complaints about Dragon Quest 9 are included. You can save anywhere, and Tag mode is available at any time. The menu system has been streamlined using icons and pictographs. The gameplay is altogether faster. Some Japanese complaints were addressed as well. While the game lacks the random map system of Dragon Quest Monsters, the random world system of Dragon Quest Monsters 2, or the grotto system from Dragon Quest 9, Joker 2 uses heavy randomization in it's otherwise static maps. Upon entering an area, one of dozens of different monster layouts can occur, for example one layout may have hunters chasing down a Sabercat Cub, another layout may have several Sabercat Cubs looking at a hunter down a cliff, still another may have a Sabercat guarding her cubs. Joker contains more monsters than any other game in the series, over 300 of them. While a large number of these are palette swaps, quite a few missing monsters were re-added to the game. A size ranking was added to the game, with monsters being classified as Rank S, M, or L. S monsters are identical to previous games in the series. M monsters are bigger and stronger, taking up two party slots. L monsters, which are only available after one has finished the main storyline, are even stronger, breaking the 999 HP cap and having more skillsets, but take up the entire party slot at once. Some exploits, such as the Quad-Breed Kingslime (Breeding 4 regular slimes together to get a Kingslime) were removed. To make up for this, the "stronger" and "strongest" system was added to the game. Some iconic Dragon Quest monsters, such as the Slime or the Dragon, can be bred together to make a stronger version of themselves. For example, a Slime and another Slime being bred together will result in a Rank C "Stronger Slime", with higher stat growth and better skillsets. Two Stronger Slimes bred together can make a Strongest Slime, a rank S monster with still higher stat growth and one or more "ultimate" skillsets. Some exploitative monsters were added, such as the Swarm monster or the Foolhero tribe. Both these monsters attack multiple times in a round for weak damage, but can equip anti-metal slime equipment and skills, making grinding during the mid-game much easier. On the whole, the game is much faster paced, with a much gentler difficulty curve. In addition to these changes, the online gameplay was significantly enhanced. Tournaments are no longer single elimination, meaning if a player downloads a series of 5 fights, he can continue on to fight #3 upon losing fight #2. In addition, random, direct fights can be found online through the random matchmaker system. These matches are all ranked and players can receive rewards for finishing them. The game also supports friend codes for online battles, as well as the Tag mode from Dragon Quest 6 and Dragon Quest 9. By using Tag mode with one of these games, monsters unique to their games, such as "Teeny Sanguini" or "Spotslime" can be scouted. These monsters are unavailable to scout normally, although they may be bred. Once tag mode is completed once, the tagged cart will be ignored by Joker 2 until 9 other carts have been tagged with, preventing "Tag farming". However, upon discovering a monster in Tag mode once, it can be repeatedly scouted (as a guest, unusable in the online tournament) via the Tag mode menu.